CD ACT Veneri Pohjola: Aurora

2009


Verneri Pohjola / trumpet
Juhani Aaltonen & Pepa Päivinen / reeds
Ilmari Pohjola / trombone
Aki Rissanen / piano
Antti Lotjonen & Pekka Pohjola / bass
Joonas Riippa / drums
Meta4 string quartet

Pohjola is a name with great symbolic power in Finland. It is the main place in the national epic poem Kalevala, and the surname of one of the country’s best known jazz musician families. With Aurora, trumpeter Verneri Pohjola is now creating quite a stir outside his homeland. In Finland his debut won the Emma award as leader, the Finnish Grammy, as “Best Jazz Album of 2009”.It was clear that the trumpeter would go on to have a musical career from very early on. He was born in 1977, the son of national jazz legend Pekka Pohjola. From 1999 he studied jazz at the Sibelius Academy, one of Europe’s leading academies, and in 2004 he was named Young Artist of the Year at the Pori Jazz Festival. In that same year the Finnish jazz critics also declared him the Best Trumpeter and Musician of the Year.